1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a boat maneuvering system.
2. Description of the Background Art
A boat maneuvering system is known in general. Such a boat maneuvering system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2011-140272, for example.
The aforementioned Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2011-140272 discloses a boat maneuvering system including an outboard motor mounted on a boat body, an engine ECU (electronic control unit) that controls the outboard motor, a remote controller configured to operate the outboard motor, a joystick provided separately from the remote controller, configured to operate the outboard motor, and a boat body ECU that accepts operation instruction inputs from the remote controller and the joystick and outputs control signals to the engine ECU. In this boat maneuvering system, a boat maneuvering mode is switched, whereby a boat is maneuvered using the remote controller or the joystick.
In the boat maneuvering system according to the aforementioned Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2011-140272, the boat body ECU has a function of receiving an operation signal from the joystick in addition to the remote controller, and hence the boat maneuvering mode is switched, whereby the boat is maneuvered using the remote controller or the joystick. In the case where a boat body ECU has no function of receiving an operation signal from a joystick, however, a device such as the joystick is not capable of being added to a boat maneuvering system including no joystick at a later time. Thus, in general, a boat maneuvering system allowing a new operating device and a new power source to be easily added to an existing boat maneuvering system is required.